Extreme Sailing Series™: First year on foils ‘sensational’, says event boss Andy Tourell

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The Extreme Sailing Series™ first year ‘flying’ with foiling GC32 catamarans has been a “huge success”, so says Event Director Andy Tourell.

Prior to the start of 2016, the global Stadium Racing tour took the game-changing decision to upgrade its Extreme 40 catamarans, used since the Series’ inception ten years ago, to state-of-the-art GC32s that rocket through the water on hydro-foils.

With the move the Extreme Sailing Series ramped up the excitement of its trademark Stadium Racing a notch further, the already-quick 30 knots of the Extreme 40s superseded by blistering 39 knot top speeds from the GC32s.

And after eight high-intensity Acts around the world this season there’s little doubt that the bold decision has cemented the Extreme Sailing Series’ reputation as the world’s premier short-course racing event.

The new supercharged racing has been a massive hit not only with the sailors but also with spectators, corporate clients and fans the world over.

“Coming into 2016 we’d had 18 months of hard work to get us ready for the season, especially with the transition from the Extreme 40s to the new GC32s,” Tourell said.

“Ultimately with any change there’s an element of risk, and when the boats turned up in Dubai for the pre-season test event there was a huge buzz from all the sailors, the event staff and the wider world to see how we were going to incorporate these foiling boats. It wasn’t just about the technology, it was about us integrating that into racing without compromising our core concept. To be able to integrate foiling technology but keep the proximity of racing to the public was absolutely key for us.”